cabin top hatch leak . ~ hull #34
Posted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 2:53 pm
I've been bothered by a slight cabin top hatch leak over the last 4-5 years. I finally took it off to rebed it. The hole in the cabin top is nicely finished off and gel coated through the thickness of the deck, so there is no worry about water ingress into the core (except through the screw holes of course), but I found the cause of the leak, the hatch is just slightly smaller than the hole diagonally, so the corners of the frame don't overlap much more than a 1/4 inch at the center of the radius. Mine had almost no bedding compound on the aft starboard corner, and very little on the other corners. I centered it the best I could and used lifecaulk more thoroughly. Seems to have worked. I have seen the same leak on several of the older boats around here. Somebody messed up the hole and hatch specs in the initial builds anyway.